Video has proven to be one of the most effective ways to reach audiences. Live video is even one step ahead. More than reach, it gives your audience a chance to engage with you and your brand. With the right audience engagement strategies, you’ll be able to create a deeper connection with your viewers.
Live streams are all about building audience engagement, which leads to a deeper connection, which in turn leads to trust. That’s why live videos have high conversion rates. But, if you can’t get your audience engaged, it will all be for nothing. In other words, you need to get your audience to pay attention and interact with you. Because of all the distractions viewers face, you must have audience engagement strategies in place.
Audience Engagement Strategies
#1 Visual Elements
Even though a video is already a visual element, there’s still some work to be done. Many live videos out there don’t get enough viewers because they are tiresome to watch. Having great content but only talking about it, won’t work. People are very visual and you’ll need something more to grab their attention.
That’s where visual elements come in. Think about elements that complement your content. For example, PowerPoint presentations, images and graphic overlays. The last one, also known as Lower Thirds, are a great solution to keep your viewers informed. For example, display your name and the name of the company.
Another visual element that helps viewers focus on your brand is to add your logo on the corner of your screen. Be careful with the number of visual elements you add. There’s such a thing as overusing them and might get viewers annoyed.
#2 Call-to-Action
Essentially, call-to-action (CTA) is a marketing term for what you want people to do. What do you want to achieve with your live stream in relation to your audience? Perhaps, you want to sell one specific product at a special discount. So, your CTA would encourage people to buy it. Or you want your audience to sign up for a free course or you want them to share your page.
Make sure you choose one – clear – CTA and keep reinforcing it during the broadcast. Sometimes, live streams fail because the CTA wasn’t clear enough and the viewers didn’t know what to do. Don’t ask them to buy and share and sign up and… They might end up leaving your stream. This strategy will keep your audience engaged and will get you closer to the results you are looking for.
#3 Handouts
Amongst all the audience engagement strategies, this one requires more of your time. But, it can also bring great results. Create unique handouts for your audience, such as a downloadable worksheet or a quiz. Ask them to use it during the live stream. It will drive your audience’s focus to the topics you want.
Providing extra materials shows your audience that you care. It increases the level of trust. This is part of a bigger strategy you should always keep in mind: over delivering. Deliver more than what your audience expects. Every time.
#4 Camera Angles
Changes during your live stream help keep your viewers focused. If something goes on for too long at the same pace and without visible changes, viewers get bored. To create an engaging live stream with visible changes, you can play around with camera angles and other video sources.
A well-known example of this strategy in action is any News live broadcast. They show other points of view, besides the front camera on the news reporters in the studio. The director switches between other angles and brings in correspondents from different places. To keep viewers engaged, they add recorded videos and visual elements.
When putting together your audience engagement strategies, think about the angles and video sources you can add. Just because it’s a live broadcast, doesn’t mean you can’t get creative with transitions and camera angles.
#5 Audio
Forgotten by many live streamers, audio plays a huge role in audience engagement. When we talk about audio, it’s not only the quality that matters but also the variety and volume. It’s important to have a dedicated microphone to your broadcast to enhance your voice and keep it clear.
As for variety, you can have a playlist as a soundtrack in the background of your stream. Whenever you aren’t talking, your soundtrack can fill up the empty space. When choosing the playlist, keep in mind that aggressive beats might be too distracting and calm beats might bore your audience. Try to find something in between.
Interaction is key
Interaction is the most important thing in any live video. These audience engagement strategies work for different types of live streams. Depending on your content and style, you can adapt each strategy to become your own. But, interaction is fundamental to get maximum engagement in any live stream.
The greatest advantage of going live is being able to interact with your audience in real-time.
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